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Background : Cardiogenic shock (CS) is the leading cause of the death in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Thyroid dysfunction is related to prognosis of patients with myocardial infarction. Hence, the aim of this study is to explore the relationship between thyroid hormones (free triiodothyronine [FT3] and free thyroxine [FT4]) and CS. Method : A total of 1270 patients with STEMI treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were consecutively enrolled in our study. Patients were classified into two groups according to with or without CS during hospitalization. Stepwise multivariate logistic analysis was conducted to investigate the association of thyroid hormones and CS. Restricted cubic spline method was employed to further explore relationship between CS and thyroid hormones. Results : Patients who developed CS (n=103) had lower FT3 and higher FT4 on admission. The stepwise logistic analysis showed both FT3 (P=0.038) and FT4 (P=0.024) were independently related to CS. Restricted cubic splines indicated that lower FT3 ( 1.25 ng/dl) was correlated with higher prevalence of CS. Over 2.5 years’ follow-up, patients (n=294) with low FT3 ( =0.88 ng/dl) had the highest all-cause mortality (18.2%), whereas patients (n=293) with high FT3 and low FT4 had the lowest all-cause mortality (3.8%) (P for trend Conclusions : Both FT3 and FT4 are independently associated with in-hospital CS development in patients with STEMI treated with PCI. Patients with lower range of FT3 and upper range of FT4 had the worst outcomes in a long-term follow-up.

Chondrosarcoma (CHS) is the second most common bone malignant tumor and currently has limited treatment options. We have recently demonstrated that thioredoxin interacting protein (TXNIP) plays a crucial role in the oncogenesis of bone sarcoma, yet its implication in CHS is underdetermined. In the present study, we first found that knockdown of TXNIP promotes the proliferation of CHS cell largely through increasing their glycolytic metabolism, which is well-known as Warburg effect for providing energy. Consistent with our previous report that YAP is fundamental for CHS cell growth, herein we revealed that YAP functioned as an upstream molecule of TXNIP, and that YAP negatively regulated TXNIP mRNA and protein expression both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, although knockdown of YAP upregulated both the nuclear and cytoplasmic TXNIP expression, we did not observe any obvious interaction between YAP and TXNIP; instead, miRNA-524-5p was demonstrated to be required for YAP-regulated TXNIP expression and thus controlling CHS cell growth. Together, our study reveals that TXNIP is a tumor suppressor in terms of CHS, and that the YAP/miRNA-524-5p/TXNIP signaling axis may provide a novel clue for CHS targeted therapy.

Charophyte assemblages from the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary transition in the JZK-2 borehole of the Jiaolai Basin (eastern China) were studied. The charophyte flora includes Tolypella grambastii, Peckichara praecursoria, Microchara cristata, Microchara prolixa, Chara changzhouensis, Lamprothamnium ellipticum, Nodosochara (Turbochara) specialis, Lychnothamnus aff. vectensis, and Lychnothamnus lanpingensis n. comb. The discovery of the ostracod species Porpocypris sphaeroidalis Guan in the upper section of the JZK-2 borehole strongly indicates the arrival of the Paleocene. Three floras of the latest Cretaceous to the early Paleocene were compared among the Jiaolai, Pingyi, and Songliao basins. The Pingyi Basin is special because it is the only carbonate palaeolake that occurred throughout the K/Pg transition in China. It is characterized by the appearance of the Cretaceous brackish water element, Feistiella anluensis (Wang), and is dominated by the Paleocene species, Peckichara varians Grambast. The Songliao and Jiaolai floras grow in clastic lakes; the Jiaolai Basin is thought to correspond to an altitude lake, which was formed in the coastal mountains with high palaeoelevation (≥ 2.0 km), while the Songliao Basin is presumed to have been formed in a low elevation site according to previous studies. This difference in altitude explains why the Songliao Basin is more species-rich than the Jiaolai Basin.

Objective One barrier hindering high frequency brain signals (HFBS, >80 Hz) from wide clinical applications is that the brain generates both pathological and physiological HFBS. This study was to find specific biomarkers for localizing epileptogenic zones (EZs). Methods Twenty three children with drug-resistant epilepsy and age/sex matched healthy controls were studied with magnetoencephalography (MEG). High frequency oscillations (HFOs, > 4 oscillatory waveforms) and high frequency spikes (HFSs, > 1 spiky or sharp waveforms) in 80–250 Hz and 250–600 Hz bands were blindly detected with an artificial intelligence method and validated with visual inspection. The magnitude of HFOs and HFSs were quantified with spectral analyses. Sources of HFSs and HFOs were localized and compared with clinical EZs determined by invasive recordings and surgical outcomes. Results HFOs in 80–250 Hz and 250–600 Hz were identified in both epilepsy patients (18/23, 12/23, respectively) and healthy controls (6/23, 4/23, respectively). HFSs in 80–250 Hz and 250–600 Hz were detected in patients (16/23, 11/23, respectively) but not in healthy controls. A combination of HFOs and HFSs localized EZs for 22 (22/23, 96%) patients. Conclusions The results indicate, for the first time, that HFSs are a newer and more specific biomarker than HFOs for localizing EZs because HFOs appeared in both epilepsy patients and healthy controls while HFSs appeared only in epilepsy patients.

Fresh water microplastic pollution is of pressing concern globally, but its distribution and sources in reservoirs are poorly documented. Danjiangkou Reservoir is the second largest reservoir in China and is divided into the Han Reservoir and Dan Reservoir. In this work, microplastic abundances and morphological characteristics of the reservoir were investigated. The microplastic abundance of 15 main tributaries of the reservoir was also measured. The vertical distribution (in water column and sediment), horizontal distribution (in Han Reservoir and Dan Reservoir) and source of microplastics were analyzed. Microplastics accumulated in the middle layer of the reservoir, and the size and color of the microplastic particles changed from the surface to the bottom, which implies that surveys of surface water are not enough to determine the microplastic contamination for deep water reservoirs. In the surface water, the microplastic abundance in the Han Reservoir was lower than that in the Dan Reservoir (p 0.05), but microplastic abundance did not differ significantly in the intermediate and bottom water. Tributaries were one of the main sources of microplastics for Han Reservoir but not for Dan Reservoir. Agricultural cultivation in the hydro-fluctuation belt might be an important source of microplastics in the Dan Reservoir, which should be given additional attention. The results of this study can provide valuable information for developing microplastic sampling strategies in deep water reservoirs. Further studies are recommended to investigate the process through which microplastics in the hydro-fluctuation belt enter the reservoir and the sinking behavior of microplastics in the reservoir.

The rapid spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in over 200 countries poses a substantial threat to human health. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes COVID-19, can be discharged with feces into the drainage system. However, a comprehensive understanding of the occurrence, presence, and potential transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in sewers, especially in community sewers, is still lacking. This study investigated the virus occurrence by viral nucleic acid testing in vent stacks, septic tanks, and the main sewer outlets of community where confirmed patients had lived during the outbreak of the epidemic in Wuhan, China. The results indicated that the risk of long-term emission of SARS-CoV-2 to the environment via vent stacks of buildings was low after confirmed patients were hospitalized. SARS-CoV-2 were mainly detected in the liquid phase, as opposed to being detected in aerosols, and its RNA in the sewage of septic tanks could be detected for only four days after confirmed patients were hospitalized. The surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage could be a sensitive indicator for the possible presence of asymptomatic patients in the community, though the viral concentration could be diluted more than 10 times, depending on the sampling site, as indicated by the

Objectives: This study aimed to systematically evaluate the effects of constraint-induced aphasia therapy (CIAT) for aphasic patients reported by randomized controlled trials. Methods: Relevant randomized controlled trials were retrieved from 11 electronic databases. A methodological quality assessment was conducted in accordance with the Cochrane Handbook, and meta-analyses were performed by using RevMan 5.2. A descriptive analysis was conducted when the included trials were not suitable for a meta-analysis. Results: A total of 12 trials were included. A statistically significant group difference was shown from the meta-analysis in the results measured by the Western Aphasia Battery (random-effects model, MD = 1.23, 95% CI = 0.31 to 2.14, P 0.05) and Aachen Aphasia Test (fixed-effects model, MD = −1.11, 95% CI = −4.49 to 2.27, P > 0.05). The descriptive analysis showed positive results in language performances of naming, repetition, and comprehension. Conclusion: This systematic review indicated that CIAT was efficient for improving language performance with regard to naming, comprehension, repetition, written language, and oral language based on the current evidence. And this review provides some meaningful guides for clinical practice: expand the therapy duration to 2 or 3 h per day, focus on naming, and choose the best assessment tool. It also indicates a need for more rigorous, large-scale, and high-quality trials in the future.